Snakes and Scares
by MaidenMoonshine
Summary: Quinta just can't understand why Abby would let a gigantic snake loose. What is Abby's side of the story? One-shot.


**I'm a little surprised that I had not already posted this story. Make sure to read at the bottom to understand where I got the idea. **

**For now, enjoy!**

**...**

"What are you doing?" Quinta asked Abby.

"Conducting tests on the snakes," Abby told her friend nonchalantly as she traipsed into the windowed testing room at the zoo with the python draped across her arm.

"Hmm," Quinta hummed nervously under her breath, not liking the look of the snake as Abby expertly settled it on the scales in the test room. Quinta watched from window, wanting as much space as possible between her and the snake.

"Quinta, come around here," Abby called. Quinta went after giving the snake a concerned glance through the glass.

"How is the snake doing?" Jenny Shepherd asked Abby, stepping out of a back room.

"Great," Abby replied with a thumbs up.

"What is she ... what are you doing here?" Quinta asked, rather surprised to see the director of NCIS dressed in coveralls and sequestered away in a back room in the zoo.

"Me? Oh, I'm the head of the reptile division of the zoo," Jenny said. She turned to Abby. "You'd better get back to your tests."

Quinta looked through the window into the testing room and screamed. Somehow, that snake had squirmed off of the table and was no where in sight. That was cause for concern.

An even greater cause for concern was that Abby had left the door open.

Quinta let out another small, frightened squeal.

"You had better find that snake, Abby," Jenny told the scientist.

"Yes, I suppose that I should," Abby said, relaxed as she began to poke around outside of the room. "Help me, Quinta."

Quinta tentatively stepped down the hallway and into another side room, which for some reason held a bed frame with a springy mattress. Quinta looked around cautiously for the python as she crawled onto the bed, keeping her eyes wide open for any sign of movement!

"I hate that you did this!" she told Abby, who was still calmly poking around in the hallway, apparently unconcerned at the risk factors that an escaped snake may offer.

"It's not like I did it on _purpose_!"Abby protested with a smile. "And she really isn't that dangerous of a snake!"

...

Quinta opened her eyes wide.

She HATED snakes!

"You were so MEAN!" she yelled, grabbing her pillow and smacking Abby with it multiple times in a row.

"What did I do?" Abby squealed, rolling over on her bed and blinking sleepily. "I've been sleeping, Quinta! I haven't done anything to you - I promise!"

"You ... you ... you let that snake get loose and it was going to eat me - probably!" Quinta gasped, curling up and leaning her head against the now-retired pillow.

"What snake?" Abby asked in honest confusion, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"The one that you let get out of the room in the zoo! The director ..."

"Director Jenny Shepherd?"

"Yes!"

"She has a snake?"

"She took care of them all at the zoo and you were doing the test and the snake got out! And I HATE snakes!" Quinta sobbed, beginning to cry into the pillow. Abby scrambled out of her bed and went over to where Quinta was curled up and patted her back calmly.

"I know that you hate snakes and that's why I'd never let one loose near you ... except I'm not in control of your dreams!"

Quinta's glare softened into a confused gaze as she slowly finished waking up and adjusting to the fact that she was NOT in danger of being swallowed alive - or how did pythons kill? She remembered that she was having a sleepover at Abby's after a Christmas party that had lasted for far too late into the night. No snakes were in sight.

"You're crazy, you know that?" Abby said affectionately, relaxing in her coffin now that the dream-snake crisis was averted.

"Crazier than you feeding everyone greasy and sugary foods laced with caffeine at 11:30 at night?" Quinta griped a little.

"It's obvious that you are NOT a morning person!" Abby giggled. She rolled over and picked up her phone.

"Don't take pictures of me!" Quinta grumbled.

"I'm not without morals!" Abby said as she swiped a couple of times before setting the phone back on a night table. A second later, Christmas music began to flood the room. "This might help you wake up happily."

Quinta smiled as the instrumental strains helped her racing heart calm. In fact, instead of waking her up, the music was particularly soothing. She stretched and rolled back over on the air mattress.

"I think ... YAWN! ... I might try to sleep a little more."

There was no response from Abby. She was already asleep.

"Sweet dreams," Quinta whispered. She yawned again and curled up into a little ball of warmth and relaxation under her covers.

Indeed, Her wish for Abby to have sweet dreams was being fulfilled in dreamworld. Abby was already dreaming that Bert the Hippo had come to life and was playing "Jingle Bells" on a saxophone.

...

**So, I had this same dream over Christmas! As Abby and Jenny Shepard were in it, I figured that in my dream I might have been Quinta (although maybe I was still myself, but it was not clear - just like why Abby and Jenny were at a zoo studying snakes!). Anyway, I wanted to share the confusion and fear of a giant escaped snake - plus some added explanation from Abby about what was ****_really_**** going on to Quinta! Have any of you ever dreamt about being in NCIS? Let me know in the comments if you have! I'd love to hear about it. :) **


End file.
